In a word, uh, yech!

I'm sorry. I can't get excited over a device whose big "improvement" (shown) is a keyboard I can't type on.

I can't get excited about a device that still doesn't take voice files and translate them to ASCII for you.

I can't get excited about a device that's still living in the pen-and-mouse past.

I can't get excited about a line of products that are functionally incompatible when you want to upgrade.

I can't get excited about blinking lights to indicate connection status. That was cool in 1975.

I can't get excited about an 802.11b client being treated like it's too cool for school. It's not.

I can't get excited about having to compromise every feature just so it can fit together.

And I can't get excited about the top-of-the-line American PDA having to run a Korean chip.

(Did I tell you I'm not excited?)

Author Gary Krakow was willing to talk a little truth-to-power. "I’m beginning to question the overall need for a standalone PDA. I think there’s a place for cellular phones, pagers, digital cameras, and wireless PDAs and they should all be in one device," he concluded.

Forget just having an All-In-One, although it would be nice if someone would include iPod functionality (or something like it) in a PDA. (It shouldn't be that hard.) And easy-to-use phone capability. Plus built-in synchronization with key desktop files, and an easy-to-use external keyboard.

But the biggest problem with PDAs remains their interface. They are locked in a 30-year old world. They're not using voice, they're really not thinking ergonomics. No one is thinking, "these are the ways people will use it, so these are the ways people will hold it, and so this is the way it must work in all those conditions."

Oh, and everything is still proprietary.

Like I said, yech! If this is the best the PDA industry can do it deserves to die.